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Vampire
Vampires are a supernatural species in Vampire Diaries. They share a number of traits with the traditional vampires of folklore, but also differ in a number of respects. A vampire's powers are made stronger by consuming human blood. If a vampire does not drink human blood, these powers are prone to being less effective and unpredictable, or in some cases, such as mind compulsion, not working at all. Age also plays a factor in how strong a vampire is. The older they get, the more powerful they become. For example, Pearl overpowered , a vampire 400 years younger. History The Origin of the vampire race is a mystery but it is known that The Originals are the first and most powerful vampires in existence and are referred to as "The First Family" by Trevor. In the books, they were vampires that were never human ( ). Vampires can be found all over the world and have been in legends for centuries in almost every culture that has ever existed on earth. 600 years ago, when vampires and werewolves wreaked havoc upon the Aztec, a powerful Aztec Shaman cast a curse upon both of the supernatural species, making vampires powerless against the Sun, and forcing werewolves to transform only during the full Moon (and unable to control themselves during the process). The Moonstone is what binds the Curse together. Rose stated that the Moonstone is used for binding the curse(s), while a Petrova Doppleganger is needed to be sacrificed, in order for both the vampire and werewolf curse(s) to be broken. The only known alive Dopplegangers are Katherine, who is a vampire and Elena, who is a human. Due to Katherine technically being dead, Elena is the only one who has the power to break the Curse. Elena Gilbert is the Human sacrifice who will play the most crucial and important role in breaking the Curse. A Vampire (i.e. Caroline Forbes), a Werewolf (i.e. Tyler Lockwood), and a Witch (i.e. Bonnie Bennett) also play a role in breaking the Curse. If a Werewolf (i.e. Tyler, Jules) breaks the curse, then Vampires (i.e. Caroline, Stefan, Damon etc) will eternally be cursed with no way to undo it, and vice versa if a Vampire (i.e. Caroline, Stefan or Damon etc) breaks it. Vampires have a long and bitter rivalry with the Werewolves, making each other natural enemies. It is known that Werewolf bites are fatal to vampires and can kill them, as they are their natural prey. Vampires carried out a genocide against Werewolves centuries ago, driving the Werewolves to near extinction. Powers and Abilities Super Strength - Vampires are much stronger than humans, illustrated by 's ability to throw violently against a garage door several feet away. Stefan throws a football causing to stumble. Damon breaks a handle to get into a warehouse where Logan was taking refuge from the deadly rays of the sun. Caroline breaks a couple of bottles tossing a ring with barely any effort. Katherine tossed Stefan around like a rag-doll and makes it clear that she can destroy him with little to no effort. Vampires strength depend on their age, the older the stronger. Elijah, an Original, is so strong that he decapitated a much younger vampire with a mere chop to the neck. Super Speed '''- Vampires can move very quickly, much faster than a human can. is able to cross the corridor to Vicki Donovan's room in the hospital at great speed, and makes it up to the rooftop of a store in the blink of an eye. He displays this ability again when he speeds across his room to pick up a paper knife to throw at . Damon uses vampire speed when he was dancing with Vicki inside the Salvatore Boarding House. Vicki later uses it, shortly after she was turned into a vampire outside of the same house.Stefan and Damon also use super speed when rescuing Elena from Elijah, by crossing and passing through corridors at such high speeds they were nearly invisible. '' using vampire speed.]] '''Superhuman Senses - Vampires have extremely strong senses. Vampires are able to hear in high pitched frequencies, being able to hear conversations a normal human cannot. Stefan heard a conversation about him from several feet away. Vampires also have a very keen sense of smell, as demonstrated by Stefan's ability to recognize that had injured herself by smelling her blood. Vampires have very sharp eyesight and night vision capable of seeing in total darkness. Because of these senses, it makes them almost impossible to sneak up on. Accelerated Healing - Vampires can heal exceptionally fast. It is possible that this accelerated healing also grants the vampire a very high pain threshold. After Stefan's hand is accidentally sliced open by Jeremy Gilbert it heals over in a matter of seconds. Stefan also realigns his finger after having it dislocated in a football game without much pain. When Stefan stabs Damon with a paper knife, Damon appears unaffected, more concerned with the damage done to his T-shirt than his body. However, it should be noted that when Damon then stabbed Stefan with the same knife in retaliation, Stefan was brought to his knees with pain and took about 10 seconds to recover. This would suggest that a vampire's diet, or at least appetite, plays a part in the effectiveness of this ability. Damon's eyes were clawed out by Pearl and yet they instantly regenerated. Mental Manipulation - Vampires have the ability to control minds, plague people's dreams, put their prey into a sort of trance and alter/erase their memories. Most Vampires refer to this ability as "compulsion". A vampire's ability to toy with the human mind can be negated using Vervain, as shown when Damon fails to force Elena to kiss him following Stefan giving her a necklace containing it. The Originals, such as Elijah, can compel other vampires. Dream Manipulation -''' The fact that Damon knows that Elena dreamed of him means that he may have been the one to manipulate that particular dream. Stefan has a nightmare about Damon attacking Elena. Upon waking, Damon asks him if he had had a bad dream and admits that he was in Stefan's head. Katherine has also done this with Stefan when she pretended to be Elena making it seem like Elena was being romantic with Damon. He woke up thinking it was Elena beside him, but quickly realized that it was Katherine. It seems like the only way this can be done with vampires is if they are not on a diet of human blood. '''Immortality - Vampires are nearly indestructible. A vampire stops aging once turned, as evidenced from Stefan, Damon and Lexi. Stefan was 17 years old when he died and was turned and therefore, will remain a centuries old vampire stuck within a 17 year old body. Lexi herself was over 350 years old at her death, but looked like a teenager. Upon their transformation they become immune from all illness and disease. However, they can still be poisoned with vervain, which causes severe weakness and an apparent fever. Although vampires cannot be killed by most conventional methods, direct sunlight, fire or a wooden stake through the heart will suffice. However Elijah, a vampire of advanced age and an Original regenerated from a seemingly dead state and pulled the stake from his chest suggesting Originals are very hard to kill. Durability - When Tyler punches Stefan in the gut, there is no reaction from Stefan. Caroline hits Damon with a lamp; Damon is unaffected suggesting some sort of durability. Also, Lexi was shot several times with conventional bullets, and appeared entirely unaffected by them, except for when she momentarily recoiled from each hit. Control Elements and Animals: 'The vampires can control the elements (Water, Air, Earth and Fire) if they train for ages, have the necessary concentration, and regularly consume enough human blood. Damon can control the fog in the first season, but only in the early chapters, also controls a raven watching Elena, Stefan, Caroline, and others. So far it is unknown whether it showed the power of the Vampires where the weather control. Weaknesses 'Vervain - When ingested, vervain makes a vampire severely weak and feverish, as shown when was able to poison with it long enough to imprison him in the basement of the Salvatore's home. Whether consumed directly (eg. through food or alcohol), or indirectly (eg. by feeding on a human who has ingested vervain), the effects are the same. Furthermore, vervain serves as a guard against a vampire's "compulsion", as demonstrated by Elena being protected from Damon by her necklace and by and Zach who had both ingested it. also has a safeguarded against Damon's compulsion by concealing vervain in his fist. Vervain may also burn vampires when exposed on the skin. It seems older vampires are more resistant to vervain as shown when Lexi threw two policemen with vampire strength after being injected with vervain. Vampires can also develop an immunity to vervain through mithridatism (a method of ingesting poisons etc. to build resistances to them), as witnessed by Katherine showing Stefan that vervain was useless against her as she has been drinking it since 1864. Extremely old vampires, like Elijah, are less affected by and heal faster from vervain exposure treating it a nuisance. Device - This device let's out a high pitched sound that vampires are able to hear and are immobilized by it. It's described by Stefan "like needles being inserted into my head". Sunlight - Both Stefan and Damon are in possession of rings containing lapis lazuli which protect them from the harmful effects of the sun. However, without such a ring sunlight will burn a vampire on contact. During Damon's imprisonment Stefan deprives him of his ring so when he later tries attacking Caroline and runs into a shaft of sunlight, he's left with nasty facial burns following exposure of approximately 3 seconds. According to legend, vampires use to walk in the daylight many centuries ago but sunlight was made fatal by an Aztec shaman.Naturally, it might be possible that vampires get hurt by UV rays since Slater's cafe and home has windows that have been tampered, to prevent UV rays from penetrating. And since sunlight could touch them and they didn't burn, its possible for them to be hurt only by UV rays. Wood - A wooden stake through a vampire's heart will result in death, upon which the vampire's body will become pale and withered in appearance. In fact, wood penetrating a vampire's body in general appears to be dangerous, and very painful. The Sheriff informs Logan Fell that shooting the vampire terrorizing the town with wooden bullets will slow him down enough for Logan to stake him. When Logan shoots Stefan in the chest with a wooden bullet, Stefan falls to the ground in pain and appears immobilized until Damon comes to his aid and removes the bullet. Furthermore, Noah is visibly in pain and apparently immobilized when Stefan tortures him with a stake in his chest. He also seems bothered when Elena stabs him with pencils. Damon seems quite helpless when (possessed by Emily) impales him on a tree branch using telekinesis. Elijah managed to regenerate after seeming to die and wither after being staked, presumably due to his advanced age. Fire - It has been hinted that Damon and Stefan believe Katherine was killed many years ago when she was trapped in a burning church. Also killed Ben with a flamethrower in Fool Me Once. Bonnie almost once killed Damon with a magically created flame. Decapitation - Damon threatens to finish Logan, stating that he he could take his head right off with a tire iron. This would suggest that decapitation is fatal to vampires. It is confirmed when Elijah decapitated Trevor in the episode Rose with just one strike. Werewolf Bite - The bite of a Werewolf has been claimed to be fatal to any Vampire. This was first mentioned in Bad Moon Rising. Vampires bitten by a werewolf experience a variety of symptoms from hunger to dementia ultimately leading to death. In the episode "By the Light of the Moon" Rose is bitten by a werewolf, but the wound heals, later where was the wound, now there are eruptions. Mental Manipulation - Vampires can be compelled by other, very old vampires, such as when Elijah ordered Slater to stake himself. Magic '''- Bonnie can repeatedly cause brain aneurysms in the heads of vampires, as she did to Stefan and Damon. This will cause them severe and debilitating pain, but they will eventually heal away the damage when she stops. Vampires are also susceptible to spells witches cast, such as the spell cast on the Tomb to prevent vampires from leaving. '''Heart Extraction - '''If a vampire's heart is taken out, it will cause instant death. In the episode The Sacrifice - Elijah takes out the heart of both Cody and the other vampire to prevent Klaus from knowing about the existence of Elena. Ben.png|Ben is killed by Stefan with a flame thrower. WoodenBullets.png|Wooden bullets are a great weapon against vampires. Myths '''Garlic - Garlic is shown to have no effect on vampires whatsoever, as witnessed when Stefan cooks with it with Elena, stating that he "loves eating garlic". It's possible that the myth originally was about vervain, but it changed to garlic because it was a more common herb. Religious Artifacts - Stefan informs Elena that religious artifacts have no effect on vampires, describing holy water as "drinkable" and crucifixes as "decorative". Reflections - All vampires are shown to have reflections in mirrors, glass, etc. Silver - A few stories, both contemporary and from folklore, suggests silver to be harmful to vampires; at present, that does not seem to be the case here, as shown by the Salvatore brothers' rings, and Stefan handling other silver jewelry. Whether silver used as weapons (i.e. bullets, blades, etc.) are also harmless, remains unrevealed. The Emotions Switch - The young vampires believe they can remove the positive and negative emotions very thought, but are only pretending, and after centuries, can no longer pretend not to notice anything at the vampire. Rose tells Damon, "The Emotions switch does not exist and pretend that only a young age." Shape Shifting - Vampires do not shapeshift into a bat, wolf, or any elemental forms such as a cloud of mist. Vampires cannot alter their overall form, as they are depicted in mythology as having the ability to do so. 'Sleeping In Coffins- '''It is seen that Stefan sleeps in beds, not coffins, but it is possible that older vampires do sleep in coffins to carry on the tradition. '''Sleeping In The Day- '''Stefan does not sleep during the day at all and he is only seen to sleep at night. Physical and Psychological Characteristics Vampires look like regular human beings for the most part. However, they undergo a facial transformation when they feed, smell blood, or experience particularly strong emotions. This transformation includes a paler complexion, blood rushing to their eyes with small veins protruding around the area, and their canine teeth lengthening to become fangs. Vampires are by default colder than humans. However, this low/lack of body temperature can be masked by consuming caffeine. Despite their enhanced physical prowess, vampires still follow daily biological-clocks, needing to sleep regularly. Another characteristic of vampirism is enhanced emotions; whatever a person was feeling before the change is amplified and can be hard to handle. explains to Elena that Vicki's drug use and addictive personality will have an impact on how she will turn out as a vampire. Also, a vampire appears to be protective towards the one who turned them, as evidenced by Vicki's distress and anger when attempted to harm Damon. Vampires enjoy stalking and toying with their victims before biting and drinking their blood. Stefan explains that the hunt is often more enjoyable to vampires than the actual feeding. Vampires are excellent hunters and can remain completely unseen by their victims despite any constrictions. Such is seen with in ''The Return as she wanders about Elena's house watching closely while at the same time she remains completely unseen and disappears in the blink of an eye. Vampires can suppress their bloodlust to a degree by consuming alcohol. also informs in the episode Isobel, that vampires have the ability to turn off their humanity. Damon refers to it as being a "switch" that vampires can turn off; he mentions that the easier path is to go with the inherited instinct of remorseless killing. Isobel, and himself are noted to have chosen this path, while chooses to go against his instincts and live without taking human life. However Isobel, Katherine and Damon have all shown humanity despite what they say. A vampire may in a way temporarily grant a human their regenerative abilities; following Damon's lethal attack on , Stefan fed her some of his blood, healing the gaping wound in her neck in seconds preventing her from bleeding to death. Most newly turned vampires become drunk with their new-found powers coursing through them. This leads them to having an overblown sense of invincibility, boastfully reveling in their immortality and abilities. This outsize feeling of superiority often leads them to severely underestimate any mortal and even older vampires, who can often exploit their arrogance against them. Its interesting to note that many vampires seem to be fond of leather coats. Stefan and Damon have been frequently seen to wear black leather jackets. Caroline didn't wear them in her human life but after being turned she was seen wearing them often. However Elijah an old vampire and an Original wears a presumably expensive business suit. It is possible that vampires dress due to many of their aristocratic behaviors, or that it could serve some purpose against their weaknesses or with their strengths. Entering a House A vampire must be invited into a private owned house, apartment, or any other permanent living location. If they try to enter, they hit a barrier and cannot enter. The only way to enter is for one of the people that live there to personally invite them, as a visitor inviting one in does not work. Vampire's can however enter public locations such as motels, schools, restaurants, etc. A vampire must also be invited into their own house as seen with Vicki Donovan. If the owner is killed, any vampire is allowed to enter. ;INVITES * Gilbert's House - was invited in the Pilot where both he and talked. got his invite when he came with to her house. Noah was later invited in posing a pizza delivery boy, but he is now dead. Anna, who is now dead, was also invited in by . Katherine, pretending to be Elena, was invited in by after she had caught her and Damon kissing. * Donovan House - Vicki, a deceased vampire, was invited in by shortly after she became a vampire. Stefan, Damon, or any other vampires have not been invited into their house. * Salvatore Boarding House - No invite is necessary for a vampire, because the owner, Zach Salvatore was killed. * Sheila's House - Stefan was first refused entrance by Sheila Bennett, but was later granted after he had saved her granddaughter, . * Lockwood Home - Stefan and Damon were both invited in for the Founder's Party and Heritage Display. Katherine was also invited in by Tyler when she was pretending to be Elena going to Richard Lockwoods funeral. Transformation Into A Vampire In order for a human to become a vampire, he/she must first consume the blood of a vampire and then die within 24 hours of consumption while the vampire blood is still in his/her system. The nature of the human's death is irrelevant; Damon and Stefan died after being shot by their father, and Vicki Donovan died when Damon broke her neck. Whether or not a vampire is required to feed on the human in this initial stage is unspecified. Upon mortal death, a period of time elapses before the (un)dead person rises, although he/she is not yet a vampire; rather he/she is in a period of transition. As witnessed with Vicki Donovan, waking in this transitional phase leaves a person disorientated, ravenously hungry and in possession of some of the vampire abilities such as enhanced strength. Stefan threw his father across the room during a confrontation prior to completing the transition. Also, Vicki complained of pain in her jaw and gums (presumably the canines lengthening to fangs) and the Salvatore brothers discussed muscle pains and aversion to the sun's bright light while in transition. Stefan explains to Vicki that in order to complete the transition from human to vampire, she must choose to feed on human blood; the alternative is simply refusing to feed, resulting in rapid bodily failure, and ultimately death. Damon refers to the transitional process as an "ordeal". See also * List of Vampires Category:Vampire Diaries Characters Category:Vampires Category:Supernatural